Star, Dish TV mulls on sharing content

PTIOct 12, 2005, 02.45PM IST

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the launch of its much-awaited DTH service, Star India on Wednesday said it has entered into final discussions for sharing its content on Essel Group-promoted DTH venture 'Dish TV'.

"We are in discussions and hope that it (impasse on content sharing) will be resolved soon. The package offered to Zee will be as per per the principle of no discrimination," a spokesperson for Star India told PTI here.

This was confirmed by an official of Essel group who said that the two broadcasters were working aggressively to resolve the issue. "We are discussing it with Star...in the process of finalising modalities," the official said.

However, he said Star India had put forward "some conditions, which are against the inter-connect spirit."

"Hope they will resolve the issue soon," the Essel group official added.

A deal is expected before the year-end, according to sources. "They have been talking for quite some time and communication is exchanging frequently to sort out issues," they point out.

Star India, which is partnering the Tatas for its DTH foray in India 'Space TV', received go-ahead from the government for launching the service earlier this year. It would be the second private player to do so, after Dish TV, even as public broadcaster Prasar Bharati offers DTH services, though through a free-to-air platform.

The issue of content sharing has been a cause of concern for Dish TV for long, especially after it failed to get content from Star even after broadcast regulator TRAI ordered mandatory sharing of content on all platforms on a non-discriminatory basis in its Interconnect Regulation. Star India has so far refused to share the content on Dish TV, citing a variety of reasons, including those related to piracy and other commercial considerations.

The Star India spokesperson said the broadcaster was keen to give the entire bouquet of 12-15 channels to Zee "at a rate which would be replicated in the contract with Space TV."

"The offer rate is more or less the same at around Rs 60 as is being offered to cable operators," he added.